A normally stoic Russian general responded angrily when asked about his family roots in Ukraine during a face-to-face meeting with U.S. military officials, according to a U.S. readout about the meeting.
CNN, which reviewed the readout, said one U.S. defense attaché had casually asked Russian Maj. Gen. Yevgeny Ilyin about his family ties in Ukraine as the meeting was ending.
CNN said the report of the meeting noted that Ilyin's "stoic demeanor suddenly became flushed and agitated."
The Americans reported Ilyin responded that he was born in Dnipropetrovsk and moved to Donetsk.
He added the situation in Ukraine is "tragic and I am very depressed over it."
Ilyin reportedly then left without shaking hands with his U.S. counterparts.
It is not certain why the meeting was held. The names of the U.S. attachés at the meeting were not included in the readout.
However, the U.S. team had the sense that Ilyin had stopped just short of accusing the U.S. and Ukraine of committing atrocities against his family.
The readout did not indicate what caused the attachés to reach that conclusion, CNN noted.
The report on the meeting also said one of the attaché's jaw dropped, and both Americans reported they had never "witnessed such an outburst by Russian counterparts at an official meeting.”
One of the attachés noted: "The fire in his eyes and flustered demeanor left a chill down the spine."
The readout concludes. "At the very least, it is clear that morale problems among Russian forces are not limited to front-line troops."
And it’s not the first report of moral problems in the Russian military.
Russian forces have become so demoralized they are shooting themselves in the legs with Ukrainian ammunition to avoid further fighting, the U.S. Sun is reporting.
The outlet said that the Russian troops look for Ukrainian ammunition to use so they can receive medical treatment without it appearing as if their wounds are self-inflicted.
Jeffrey Rodack ✉
Jeffrey Rodack, who has nearly a half century in news as a senior editor and city editor for national and local publications, has covered politics for Newsmax for nearly seven years.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.